Category Archives: G-d’s Kingdom

In the church today, there’s a great abundance of wolves and dangers, not only from outside the church, but also inside the church, as well as from those behind many of the pulpits in America. Paul warned us of times like this prior to his final arrival in Jerusalem:

For I know this, that after my departing shall GRIEVOUS WOLVES enter in among you, NOT sparing the flock. Also of YOUR OWN SELVES shall men arise, SPEAKING PERVERSE THINGS, to draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the space of THREE YEARS I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears. (Acts 20:29-31; Emphasis Mine)

Throughout the church’s history, it has been under attack from the outside and the inside, but in these last days, the deceptions and attacks have become more acceptable by the flock, destroying the lives of many.

Yes, the church is being deceived, and my wife and I have been standing up and yelling to the flock, “BE CAREFUL! THERE ARE DANGERS! WATCH OUT FOR THE WOLVES AND THE TRAPS!” Some have listened, but some have not. “Deceptions” are defined as “half-truths,” things taken out of context and misrepresented, or just lies that are presented as truth, and if you listen to many of the popular Christian New Testament Only (NTO) ministers and Bible teachers, their “deceptions” are being widely received and embraced by many within the church. What we need are pastors, TV ministers and Bible teachers who believe in teaching the whole Word of God from cover to cover, but unfortunately, those are becoming increasingly hard to find. So what are these deceptions being taught? They are the following:

(1) All it takes to get saved is to pray the “sinner’s prayer;”
(2) Jesus’ life and teachings are not required for Christians; and
(3) To be saved, we can accept Jesus as our Savior without accepting Him as “Lord”; and
(4) Salvation is an event, NOT a life-long process.

(1) ALL IT TAKE TO GET SAVED IS TO PRAY THE “SINNER’S PRAYER”

The first error that’s being commonly taught among many Christian NTO pastors and teachers is that all it takes to get saved is to pray the “sinner’s prayer.” For example, I was speaking to a minister friend of mine who said that he was at a funeral where the man who had died had lived his life as a gang member stealing, killing and raping women, and there in the congregation were many of his friends and family members who were leading similar lifestyles. The minister who was conducting the service said to these people that he knew that this person was in heaven, because when he was five he had gone forward to accept the Lord. Imagine what he had just told all these people? You can steal, kill, rape and destroy all the lives you want, and still go to heaven, as long as you go forward, say the “sinner’s prayer,” and get your free “go to heaven ticket.”

The “sinner’s prayer” has become the modern day version of “circumcision” in the New Testament. During Paul’s time, there were those who were saying that all one had to do to get saved and go to heaven was to “get circumcised.” A minor operation for guys, and “bam,” instant ticket to heaven. In the world today, it’s “the sinner’s prayer.” Just go to church, or wherever, say the “sinner’s prayer,” and “bam,” instant ticket to heaven! In fact, I’ve heard many pastors say after leading people through the “sinner’s prayer,” “I want you all to remember that today, at 12:17pm (or whatever time it was), that you’re now a child of God! You’ve done everything that you need to do to go to heaven.” But what these ministers don’t think about is what this strongly suggests: that we don’t have to develop a relationship with God and His Son Jesus Christ to go to heaven; instead, all we have to do is simply say the “sinner’s prayer.” Even though this teaching about the “sinner’s prayer” does NOT line up at all with the teachings of Jesus or the rest of the Bible!

I think many people forget that through most of the history of the church, there were no altar calls, nor was there a “sinner’s prayer.” Instead, when people wanted to publicly proclaim their allegiance and loyalty to Jesus Christ, they got baptized in water. This is the pattern we see throughout the New Testament. In fact, Jesus, Peter, Ananias, and Paul taught water baptism is an important part of repentance (Mark 16:16; Acts 2:38; Acts 22:12-16; and Romans 6:3-4). Nor did the water baptism have to happen in church. For example, Philip shared Christ with the Ethiopian Eunuch and then baptized him, as they were traveling along their journey and came across some water in Acts 8:26-40.

Also, Paul makes it quite clear in Romans 6 that we are not to live our lives any longer in sin. In fact, Romans 6-8 is Paul’s argument about the fact that since we have died with Christ and been buried with Him in baptism, then we are no longer to live in submission to the control and power of sin. And then in Romans 8, Paul writes that to be “carnally-minded,” to have your mind on fleshly desires and pleasures (e.g., sex, sensual pleasure, money and material wealth, pride, greed, coveting) “is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is ENMITY [HOSTILE, IN OPPOSITION AGAINST] God; for it is NOT subject to THE LAW OF GOD, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the FLESH CANNOT PLEASE GOD” (Romans 8:5-8; Emphasis Mine). And yet, somehow, according to these NTO preachers and teachers, you can go to heaven by simply saying a prayer, even when you continue to live a lifestyle that’s offensive and not pleasing to God.

By these people teaching this, they are discrediting the power of the cross to transform lives from a sinful, me-oriented life to a holy, God-oriented life. Obviously, if these people continue in sin, even though they prayed the “sinner’s prayer,” then their continued disobedience only proves to others the weakness of the cross – NOT the power of the cross! Jesus died to free us from the power and control of sin, so we could live a life of holiness before God, not so we could get our free ticket to heaven, while continuing to live in sin.

(2) JESUS’ LIFE AND TEACHINGS ARE NOT REQUIRED FOR CHRISTIANS.

Another error that’s being taught is that Jesus’ life and teachings isn’t for Christians, but it was ONLY for the Jews. This bogus argument is based on the idea that the great dividing line between the Old and New Testament is the cross. Therefore, since Jesus’ life and teachings were BEFORE the cross, they don’t apply to Christians.

Consider what this is actually saying: They are saying that the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord’s Prayer, His parables, His description of eternal life, His warnings against Hell – NONE of this, according to them, is for Christians. They say that the ONLY part of the New Testament that’s for Christians is from the cross on, or the last 32% of the Bible, which makes up less than 1/3!

But did Jesus ever say that He was part of the “Old Testament” as these pastors and teachers say? No, He didn’t. In fact, in Matthew 12, Jesus says in regard to John the Baptist,

Truly, I say to you, among those born of women there has not arisen anyone greater than John the Baptist; yet he who is least in the Kingdom of heaven is GREATER than he. And from the days of John the Baptist UNTILNOW the Kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force. For ALL THE PROPHETS AND THE LAW prophesied UNTIL JOHN. (Matthew 11: 11-13)

This means that according to Jesus, Malachi is NOT the last Old Testament prophet, but instead, the last one was John the Baptist. Therefore, in contrast to these NTO pastors and teachers who again say the cross is the dividing line between Old and New Testament, JESUS HIMSELF said the dividing line was not the cross, but John the Baptist. So who are we going to believe: Jesus or these NTO preachers and teachers?

I’ve seen these NTO preachers and teachers draw a line between the Old Testament and the New Testament, and then quote 2 Timothy 2:15 to justify their act.

Be diligent [and study] to present yourselves approved to God as a workman who does not need to to be ashamed, handling accurately the word of truth.

However, when Paul wrote this verse, there wasn’t any New Testament. Paul’s epistles had been written and the book of Matthew, but that was about it. But they weren’t in any one collection; instead, they were being circulated around to the different churches. The rest of the New Testament had not been written yet. Therefore, the idea that when Paul wrote the words that have been translated as “handling accurately the word of truth” (NASB) or in the King James Version, “rightly dividing the word of truth” to mean to divide the Old and New Testament when there wasn’t yet a New Testament cannot possibly be right.

This is an example of them reading into the text – a mishandling of the text – instead of placing the text back into its proper context and understand it from that context. You see, when we look at the original Hebrew and Greek documents – rather than our modern English translations – we would see in the original documents, no periods, no commas, no paragraphing, and no chapter breaks, so in order to properly know where one idea ends and another one begins, you have to be able to accurately know where to “divide the word of truth,” not just in one place, but every time there’s a change of an idea.

This is much more likely what Paul meant by this statement than this idea about dividing the Old and New Testament. Their interpretation again only demonstrates that the NTO people who teach this are imposing their own denominational beliefs into the text, rather than placing the text back into its original historical, social, cultural and linguistic contexts. Therefore, by doing this, they are clearly misusing Scripture, not properly teaching it.

But in looking at their messed-up doctrine, even though they say that what’s for Christians is from the cross on, they ignore Romans 8, and 2 Corinthians 16-17 and other passages like these, which contradict their teaching that salvation is acquired by only saying “the sinner’s prayer.” So apparently, the part of the Bible they follow is even smaller than 32%. And when you figure in that 80% of the New Testament is made up of quotes, references or allusions to the Old Testament, which according to them is not for today, then their Bible is down to maybe 15-18%.

But hey, if these ministers and teachers are right (I’m saying this sarcastically), then why not just send everyone in the world a card with the “sinner’s prayer” on it, and say, “Just pray this prayer, and you’ll receive eternal life and a home in heaven! Nothing else required.” Think about how much money and expenses churches could save not having to support missionaries at all, right?

But if that was all that it took, why would Jesus commission us to go DISCIPLE ALL THE NATIONS? Notice, He didn’t say, “Go and make “saved people” or “religious people,” but to DISCIPLE people; therefore, it only seems logical to say that there is no real salvation apart from discipleship to Jesus Christ. Therefore, we need missionaries, and we need to do all we can to support them. Because as far as Jesus is concerned, if you are NOT one of His disciples, then you are NOT truly saved. It’s really that simple.

In part 2, which will come out tomorrow, Friday, March 15, 2019, I’ll discuss the last two deceptions being preached.

“The secret of the LORD is with them that fear Him, and He will show them His covenant.” ++ (Psalm 25:14)

A HIDDEN COVENANT?

There is a “hidden” covenant alluded to in Psalm 25 since it is “the secret of the LORD” that He will “show” those who “fear Him”? The word translated “secret” is the Hebrew word sodh, and it carries with it the idea of “secrets” or “mysteries” that is often shared between those who are in a close, intimate relationship. But what is this “secret” or “mystery” and which “covenant” does it deal with? And why will the “covenant” need to be “shown” to them? Aren’t all of God’s covenants clearly discussed and described in Scripture?

A FRIEND’S CHALLENGE

It was back in the late 1980’s, and I was beginning to get pretty heavy in studying the Jewish Roots of the Christian faith. This was before I had ever heard of the Messianic Movement or of any any such groups. All I knew was that the Lord was revealing things to me from the Torah (five books of Moses), and I was seeing how they made the whole Bible come alive for me in ways like I had never experienced before. And I was so excited about these discoveries that I was trying to share them with family and friends.

Everyone around me thought that I had lost my mind, including a close friend of mine, who challenged me to go back and re-read the book of Galatians in the New Testament. I decided that I would go above and beyond that. I got out my Greek New Testament and my dictionaries and concordances, and I went verse-by-verse, and I re-translated the entire book from the Greek language to English, but I tried to do it from the mindset of an Orthodox Jew, which Rav Sha’ul Paulus (Paul) was, from the first century. It was during this process that I stumbled across God’s “hidden” covenant.

A PROMISE?

The term that caught my attention was “promise.” It is a term that’s repeatedly used by Rav Sha’ul (Paul) in his teachings and writings. For example,

And now I am standing trial for the hope of THE PROMISE made by God to our fathers; (Acts 26:6; Emphasis Mine)

What “promise” is he referring to, and who are “our fathers”? I wondered. But then as I continued my translation of Galatians, I came across this portion of the letter:

What I am saying is this, the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. (Galatians 3:17)

There it was again, “the promise.” I began to wonder, what was this “promise”? Obviously, it was not part of the covenant that God made with Israel at Mount Siani since it came 430 years before that event. I kept reading.

For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise. (Galatians 3:18)

In both Romans and Galatians, the one individual that Rav Sha’ul (Paul) refers back to repeatedly is Abraham. The promise that he spends so much time talking about and discussing has to do with a promise that God gave to Abraham. But what promise? The following is what God’s Spirit revealed to me as I researched this further.

GOD’S CALLING OF ABRAHAM

In my previous post, “The Life of Abraham: An Important Lesson for Every Believer,” I mentioned that we see four principle stages illustrated in the life of Abraham: God’s calling of him, a time of development of that relationship, God entering into covenant with him, and then, afterwards, God requiring obedience of him as a way of walking out and expressing that relationship. I also mentioned that any individual who seeks a relationship with God will go through the same basic stages.

In God’s calling of Abraham, there’s an illusion to this promise, which comes at the end of God’s promise to bless him:

And I will bless those who bless you, and the ones who curses you I will curse. And in you shall all the families of the earth shall be blessed. (Genesis 12:3)

Notice it says that “all the families of the earth,” meaning Jew and non-Jew alike, will “be blessed” in “you” (Abraham). Have you ever wondered, “How do I find my blessing from God in Abraham?” I did. This same verse is quoted by Rav Sha’ul (Paul) in the book of Galatians:

And the Scripture foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles (non-Jews) by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “All the Nations shall be blessed in you.” So then those who are of faith are blessed with Abraham, the believer. (Galatians 3:8-9)

So this last line in Genesis 12:3 is in some way connected to the gospel (or “good news”) preached by Yeshua/Jesus, the early disciples, and by Rav Sha’ul Paulus (Paul). But the connection was still unclear. It wasn’t until I got to chapter 15 of Genesis that God revealed to me the connection.

GOD’S COVENANT WITH ABRAHAM

As i mentioned in my previous post “The Life of Abraham,” the covenant process begins with a question about how Abraham would know that God would indeed give him the land. Although I did not get real detailed in that post, I need to now in order for you to see “the promise” and its connection to the good news proclaimed throughout the B’rit Chadasha (“New Testament”), particularly in the writings of Rav Sha’ul (Paul).

THE COVENANT PROCESS

In response to Abram’s (later changed to Abraham) question, God instructs him to get the following animals: a three-year-old heifer, a three-year old she goat, a three-year-old ram, a turtle dove and a young pigeon. Except for the two birds, He instructed him to cut the animals in half lengthwise and to put one half of the body on one side and the other half of the body directly across from it, making an aisle in the middle between the two parts. The two birds were not cut in half but remained whole.

This particular covenant was well known to Abram, and, in fact, it is also used partially again by the officials of Jerusalem and Judah in Jeremiah 34:18-20, but they violated the covenant, in contrast to God who always keeps His covenant. But according to some researchers, elements of this covenant process is still used by some tribes in Africa.

The two parties would then make a figure eight as they walked between each of the pieces, making the sign of infinity, and then they would meet in the middle. This walk is known as “the walk of death” since this is a life and death agreement that the two parties are making with one another. Then when they meet in the middle, the two parties would then exchange vows and curses. Again, this was an UNBREAKABLE covenant, and if Person A did violate the covenant, then PERSON B was to chase down and kill Person A in a physically violent and painful way as symbolized by the cut up animals that each of them had just walked through.

During the exchange of vows, for example, they would —

Exchange coats. A coat was a symbol of one’s status and authority.

Exchange belts. A belt contained one’s weapons, and in exchanging them, they would say, “I shall teach you and protect you”.

After making these vows of what they would do to bless the other, then they would exchange curses of what would happen if the other would break the covenant, including killing the other in a physically violent and painful way as previously stated.

THE PHYSICAL MARK (OR SIGN)

After the exchange of vows and curses, there would be physical mark that was made. Usually, each of the two parties would cut their right hand and then bind them together to formulate them into one new family. As their right hands were bound together, they would raise it and swear by the blood of their tribes and families, an oath was made, followed by the statement, “I will never leave you or forsake you, so help me God.”

SIGNS OF MEMORIAL

After this, this some stones would be set up as a memorial or marker of the covenant that had been made that day.

COVENANT MEAL

Upon completing the covenant process, then the two groups would enjoy a meal together, further making the two parties one, since the same food becomes part of the bodies of both parties. During this meal, the elders would feed one another and say, “This is my body, take eat,” meaning “I’ll die and let you eat my flesh before I will let you starve.” And then, they would feed each other wine, representing the essence of life, saying, “Everything that I have is yours, even my sons, daughters, food, possessions, everything.”

A SPECIAL CREATION?

This is what Abraham was expecting to do with God. However, when the time came for Abraham and God to participate in the covenant ritual, the Scriptures state, that God placed Abraham “in a deep sleep” (Genesis 15:12). This same phrase is used in Genesis 2 when God places Adam “in a deep sleep” and then creates Eve (Heb. Chavah; Genesis 2:21). In using this phrase, there is an indication in the text that God is about to do some creative work here.

In a vision, Abram saw a burning furnace and a flaming torch pass between the pieces. Both Jewish and Christian commentators agree that these two images represent God. But what I found interesting is that the Scriptures says, “In the same day, the LORD made a covenant with Abram…” (Genesis 15:18a).

Now every text that I have seen written on this portion of Scripture has stated that by God walking between the pieces alone, He was changing the essence of the covenant from a conditional one to an unconditional one since Abram did not take part in the covenant process. In essence, this covenantal process was just an elaborate way for God to tell Abram, “I promise.” However, I believe that there is more here than what they see.

WHY DIDN’T GOD ALLOW ABRAM TO PARTICIPATE?

The one question I had was, Why didn’t God allow Abram to participate in the ritual with Him? I discovered that if He had, then when Abram died, then the covenant would have died with him. However, since God is an eternal Spirit and does not die, then by God walking through the pieces, He makes this covenant eternal, just as He, Himself, is eternal.

WHAT ARE THE LEGAL RAMIFICATIONS?

But if God walked through the pieces Himself since Abram was “in a deep sleep,” what were the legal ramifications for God, since the text says, “On that day, God entered into a covenant with Abram”? I believe that the commentators are wrong when they say that this is just an elaborate promise. I believe that God walked through the pieces not only for Himself, but also for Abram. In essence, He became Abram’s legal proxy. So by doing this, God took upon Himself not only His own legal obligations to satisfy the requirements of the covenant, but Abram’s as well.

What did this mean for God? First of all, by doing this, God was promising to keep
and to maintain the promises He made to Abram and to his seed. Also, it meant that He was promising to give Abram and his seed all that He is, His Spirit, His characteristics and strength, His possessions and resources, as well as God’s enemies now became Abram’s. We see the same thing happen when two people get married, another type of covenant. What was mine, became my wife’s, and what was my wife’s became mine.

What did this mean for God as Abram’s Legal Proxy? It meant that God was taking upon Himself the responsibility to make sure that Abram and his seed maintained and kept the covenant. This explains the giving of the Torah at Mt. Siani, the sending of the Prophets and their constant plea for the people to return to the Torah, the need for the B’rit Chadasha (“new covenant”), and for the giving of the Holy Spirit (Heb. Ruach HaKodesh), so that “the seed of Abraham” could be empowered and equipped to walk in obedience to the covenant.But it also meant that if Abram or Abram’s seed should break the covenant, that God would have to die a physically painful and violent death represented by the cut up animals that He walked between. God had walked these pieces alone. Abram was “in a deep sleep,” so God took upon Himself in this legal act to suffer the penalty of death for the sins of Abram and his seed.

But not only that, but Abram’s assurance of the Promised Land, as well as all the other promises God made, was also based upon the act of God walking between the pieces, His act and promise of legal proxy.

ON WHAT DAY DID GOD MAKE THIS COVENANT WITH ABRAM?

What I found really interesting was on what day this covenant was made – Passover. Although it was made 430 years before the day became known as “Passover” in Exodus 12, it was on this “self-same day” as when this covenant was made. For before God walked between the pieces, God prophesied the following to Abram:

Know for certain that your descendants will be strangers in a land that is not theirs, where they will be enslaved and oppressed four hundred years. But I will also judge the nation whom they will serve; and afterward they will come out with many possessions. (Genesis 15:13-14)

Did this happen? Yes, the book of Exodus begins by describing how after Joseph died, there arose a king who did not know Joseph and enslaved the people of Israel. And it then goes on to describe how God liberates His people from Egypt using Moses as His mediator. And it is in Exodus 12, after the last plague against Egypt, the death of the firstborn, that the Scriptures say,

And it came about at the end of the four hundred and thirty years TO THE VERY DAY, that all of the hosts of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. (Exodus 12:41; Emphasis Mine)

On the very day that God promised Abram that his descendant would “come out with many possessions,” God liberated His people in the Exodus from Egypt. Rav Sha’ul (Paul) also refers to this in his letter to the congregation in Galatia,

What I am saying is this, the Law, which came four hundred and thirty years later, does not invalidate a covenant previously ratified by God, so as to nullify the promise. For if the inheritance is based on law, it is no longer based on a promise; but God has granted it to Abraham by means of a promise.(Galatians 3:17-18)

Therefore, the covenant that God made with Abram happened on Passover – before it was called Passover, and He fulfilled His promise to Abram on the same exact day that He made it, although 430 years later.

DID ABRAM AND HIS SEED BREAK THE COVENANT?

But what about the promise that God made when He walked between the pieces? Did Abram or any of his seed violate and break the covenant? The answer is yes, they did. We know from the testimony of Scripture that Abram’s seed, or descendants, did, in fact, break the covenant on numerous occasions. One of them being the sin of the golden calf, described in Exodus 32. Consequently, if Abram and His seed did break their covenant with God, then the question we would wonder if how is it possible for God, who is an eternal Spirit, to keep His covenantal obligation to to die a physically painful and violent death?

It should also be remembered that the Scriptures state, “On that day, God entered into covenant with Abram.” So the covenant was made between God and Abram and his seed. So since it was Abram’s seed, or descendants, who violated the covenant on a number of different occasions, then justice would demand that someone representing the seed of Abraham should likewise pay the penalty of those violations.

GOD’S SOLUTION.

God’s solution to this dilemma is found in the writings of the B’rit Chadasha (“New Testament”), and it is commonly referred to as the incarnation. God sends an angel to a young virgin girl named Mir’yam (Mary) in the village of Nazareth:

Do not be afraid, Mary: for you have found favor with God And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus [Heb. Yeshua]. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and His Kingdom will have no end. (Luke 2:30-33)

Through the incarnation, the child born to Mary would be both God and a Jew, a physical descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, thereby representing both sides of the covenant in Genesis 15, God and Abram and his seed. Just as the first anointed one mentioned in Scripture is Aaron, the Priest, and then later the various kings, Saul, David, and Solomon, so the Messiah came first to be a priest, offering Himself as a sacrifice for the sins committed by Israel and the nations, in fulfillment of God’s promise of walking between the pieces, and then in the next coming, He shall indeed comes as King and reign over Israel and the nations.

This is why Yeshua/Jesus had to die such a physically violent and painful death, and why it had to happen on Passover, on the very day that God walked between the pieces, although two millenniums later. This is why Rav Sha’ul (Paul) states in Acts 13:32-33,

We tell you the Good News: what God promised our fathers [Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob], He has fulfilled for us, their children, by raising up Jesus (Heb. Yeshua)…

Rav Sha’ul (Paul) refers to this promise again in his trial before King Agrippa, as I stated previously,

And now it is because of my hope in what God has promised our fathers that I am on trial today. (Acts 26:6)

Finally, Yeshua/Jesus Himself refers to the fact that Abraham witnessed His coming and His death:

Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing My day; he saw it and was glad. (John 8:56)

Question: “When did Abraham see the day of Yeshua/Jesus?”

Answer: “When he saw in a vision God passing between the pieces.”

Question: “What about the non-Jewish world? How do they have a part in this?”

Rav Sha’ul (Paul) answers this question. He writes,

Understand, then, that those who believe are the children of Abraham (Galatians 3:7)

If you belong to the Messiah, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise. (Galatians 3:29)

Notice that Rav Sha’ul (Paul) did not write, “If you belong to the Messiah, then you are heirs according to the promise,” but “If you belong to the Messiah, then you are Abraham’s seed,” and it is when we are part of the seed of Abraham, having accepted God’s fulfillment of the Abrahamic covenant in and through Messiah, that we then become “heirs according to the promise.”

So by belonging to the Messiah, whether one is a Jew or a non-Jew, we are made a part of this renewed covenant that God has fulfilled in and through the death, burial, and resurrection of the Messiah. And in addition, the promise of God’s own Spirit, living on the inside of those who are part of this renewed Abrahamic covenant, is also made available to all who will believe:

He redeemed us in order that the blessings given to Abraham might come to the Nations through the Messiah Yeshua, so that by faith we might receive the promise of the Spirit (Galatians 3:14).

And it was Shi’mon Petros (Peter) who said in his sermon on that first Shavuot (Pentecost) after Messiah’s death, burial, and resurrection, when Shi’mon Petros (Peter) and the other disciples of Yeshua/Jesus had received the baptism (the full immersion) of the Holy Spirit (Heb. Ruach HaKodesh)::

Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Yeshua HaMoshiach (Yeshua/Jesus the Messiah) for the forgiveness of sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, and for all whom the Lord our God will call. (Acts 2:38-39)

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

What will you do with God’s gift, the fulfillment of His promise to the fathers? Will you accept it and begin to enjoy intimacy with God, the living of His Spirit on the inside of you, and His other blessings as part of the fulfilled Abrahamic covenant? The covenant is open to all who will come, whether Jew or non-Jew. And with each person that comes to God, accepting His fulfillment of His promise to Abraham, then God’s promise to Abraham comes closer to its complete fulfillment:

And in you shall all the families of the earth be blessed. (Genesis 12:3)

If you wish to receive this promise, pray the following:

Father, forgive me of my sins. I accept the gift that you have given, the fulfillment of your promise to the fathers by Yeshua (Jesus) coming and dying on the cross for my sins, and I ask you to come into my life and fill me, so that I might experience the intimacy and blessing of covenant that Chris has described in this article. I, like Abraham, want to have such a close relationship with you that I too might be called “a friend of God.” Thank you Lord for your gift, in the name of the Messiah Yeshua (Jesus). Amen.

If you prayed this prayer and have asked God to make you a part of His fulfilled Abrahamic covenant, please email me at followingmessiah@gmail.com, so that I might pray with you once more and answer any further questions that you might have.

REALLY?

I am appalled at how we use “names” or “titles” to distinguish or separate ourselves from one another. Even within Christianity itself, people identify themselves according to their own denomination or even by what church they attend to distinguish themselves from another church within the same denomination. It’s ridiculous. I asked a pastor friend of mine once, why these churches within the same denomination on the same side of town didn’t work together to do an outreach to that part of town? His response shocked me. He said, it was because there were simply too many egos involved. People, he said, would argue over who got what people and who would get the credit for what.

EGOS AND TITLES VS. LOVE

When we are more concerned with our egos and titles, rather than working together to demonstrate God’s love to those around us, there’s something very wrong at what we are doing. I mean, does it really matter whether we call ourself “a Christian,” “a Messianic,” “an Orthodox Jew,” “a Conservative Jew,” “a Baptist,” “a Nazarene,” “a Lutheran,” “a Pentecostal,” “a Catholic,”or some other man-made title? It should be remembered, as I said, that all religious titles are just man-made entities used to distinguish one group from another. Personally, I really don’t believe what name a person uses to describe themselves matters.

WHAT IS IMPORTANT

What does matter is whether or not the individual is in God’s Kingdom. I believe we could eliminate a lot of division between denominations, religious branches, and groups if we would just focus on what’s really important – on whether we are entering and actively participating in the kingdom of God.

Let me give an example of what I mean. A few years ago, Moore, Oklahoma, was devastated by a couple of tornadoes, tearing down homes and businesses. People from all over the United States came to lend a helping hand with food, supplies, labor, etc. People in Texas didn’t say, “Well, those people in Oklahoma are not part of our group in Texas, so as a result, we are not going to help them.” No, all divisions, and even competitiveness between states in sports, were all put aside. All that mattered was that there were Americans who were in trouble and needed help.

What would happen, for example, if people in God’s kingdom took on that same mind set. What if they could put aside their church and denominational differences and work together simply because they saw other Kingdom people in trouble or they saw some need around them? Can you imagine the impact that would have when people, outside of God’s kingdom, could witness that kind of love and unity at work – rather than the division, conflict, fighting and criticism that is often seen?

WHAT I AM NOT SAYING

Now let me be clear what I am not saying here. I am not saying that all religions are equal, nor am I advocating that people should just believe or do whatever they want. God is King, and as such, it is He who sets the standards for what is right or wrong, not us. A kingdom is a monarchy, not a democracy. Consequently, in a kingdom, people do not have the right to choose or vote upon which laws they want to follow and which ones they can simply ignore. In a religion people can, but in a monarchy, they cannot. The word of the king is law, and it is up to the citizens of that kingdom to follow and adhere to the laws of that kingdom.

KINGDOM VS. RELIGION

Contrary to what many people have been taught, God really is not interested in establishing a religion on this planet. This world all ready has way too many religions as it is. For example, God did not give His commandments, judgments, and decrees to Moses simply so that they could be used to formulate a religion, but people did turn them into a religion. Nor did Yeshua/Jesus come to this earth, teach for three-and-a-half years, die a gruesome death on a cross, and then rise bodily from the dead, so that people could turn His teachings and life into yet another religion, but people did. But contrary to people’s consistent turning of God’s work into religions, God’s central focus and desire is on establishing His Kingdom here on earth – not on us continuing to take His kingdom efforts and using them to formulate yet another denomination or religion.

THE PROBLEM – THE NEED FOR CONTROL?

You see, religion takes us away from the kingdom, not towards it. Throughout Yeshua’s/ Jesus’s years of ministry, He proclaimed THE KINGDOM of God, NOT the RELIGION of God. Man’s deepest need is found in God’s KINGDOM, not in the formation of another religion. For example, Yeshua/Jesus began His ministry proclaiming,

The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent and believe the gospel (or good news). (Mark 1:15)

What was the focus of the gospel? The kingdom of God – NOT the religion of God. You see, people enjoy formulating something into a religion, because then they can control it. They can decide what to believe and what not to believe. For example, how many branches and denominations of Christianity have decided which parts of the Bible is “for today” (i.e., what they’ve chosen to believe and practice) and which parts aren’t? The fact is, there is no where in the Bible where human beings are given the right to decide what part of the Bible they will accept and what part they can reject. But when people turn something into a religion, then they can take that right upon themselves.

When it comes right down to it, it’s a control issue. We like control. What we don’t like is the idea that someone other than ourselves has any control or power over us at all. We want to be the ones who control our own lives, our own beliefs and values, and even our own destinies. But the idea that there is a real God out there, who objectively exists outside the minds and imaginations of people, who wants us to turn over the control and right of our lives into His hands, even to a loving, benevolent God, is not acceptable to the majority of people. If we give God the control of our life, then He will have the right to indicate what our values and beliefs should be, how we should live, and even how we should treat others, etc., and deep down inside, that just goes against our natural human beliefs and desires. Am I saying that giving our lives to God is bad? No, I am saying it goes against our natural, carnal human nature.

I mean, think about how often in America, for example, we focus on having things done “our way.” For example, there was Frank Sinatra’s renowned song, “I Did It My Way.” or Burger King’s theme song, “Have It Your Way.” We even feel that the most American thing that we can do is pull ourselves up by our own “bootstraps” and to do things ourselves. Consequently, we are taught and trained within the American culture to be completely independent and self-reliant.

WHAT IS WRONG WITH THAT?

Some may wonder, What is wrong with that? Shouldn’t we want to be “independent and self-reliant”? Of course, the problem with this is that in being “independent and self-reliant,” we are the ones in control, not God. Many American Christians may question this by saying, “We believe in God; We go to church.” But when you begin to really dig down at how they view themselves, you discover that most American Christians view themselves first and foremost as “Americans, who happen to be Christians, seeking to live the American dream until they die, and then hope after they’ve died that they will go to heaven.” However, that’s a whole different mindset than viewing yourself as “a citizen of God’s Kingdom, serving the needs and desires of your king, until the time of your king’s return or until you die and enter into His Presence.” The latter is a Kingdom mindset and perspective of oneself, which is not the dominant one held by most people.

The values and beliefs of America and the American dream are NOT, in fact, synonymous with Kingdom living. In fact, in many ways, they are in direct contradiction to one another. And during my own lifetime, I have noticed that the contrast between the two have been growing larger and larger. In viewing our own self-identity, the question we each need to ask ourselves is, Whose values and beliefs am I embracing: the values and beliefs of my nation or God’s?

Does this mean I ignore my country? No, it means that we realize that as believers, we are first and foremost citizens of God’s kingdom, and secondly, citizens of the nation where we have been born and live. For example, I’ve heard people say that God is on America’s side or that He is on this party’s side or even that God is on the side of some team. But this is not the correct perspective. The correct question is not whether God is on the side of the United States (or any other nation, party, or team), but whether the United States (or any other nation, party, group or team) is on the side of God? It is God who sets the standard of what is right or wrong, not our birth nation, party, group, or team we happen to belong to.

THE BIBLE – NOT SIMPLY A RELIGIOUS TEXT?

Also, the majority of people view the Bible as just another “religious text,” or just a “list of do’s and don’ts.” However, this really is a gross misrepresentation of the Bible. In fact, the Bible is God’s Kingdom Manual. It is in His manual that He presents and discusses all aspects of Kingdom life and living, including His own identity, character, and revelation of Himself as our Creator and King, a description of His kingdom, as well as His laws and guidelines regarding all aspects of Kingdom life, such as agriculture, politics, social values and norms, relationships (between men and women, family dynamics, working relationships, and other social interactions), and yes, there are even some religious aspects to kingdom life and living.

SO IS YESHUA/JESUS IMPORTANT TO THE KINGDOM?

Now some may wonder, Is Yeshua/Jesus important at all to God’s Kingdom, or is He just something that Christianity added? The answer to this question is He is absolutely central and important to the kingdom! Why? Because He came to teach us more about the Kingdom, to correct erroneous ideas about it and its teachings that were being taught at that time, to proclaim to all God’s invitation to come into His Kingdom, and to provide the way into the Kingdom through His death and resurrection. It is only through Messiah Yeshua/Jesus that we have access into the Kingdom and to the person of God Himself.

As a result of Yeshua’s/Jesus’ faithfulness, even to the point of dying on the cross, God has set Him as ruler over all that He, God the Father, has created, both in heaven and on earth. This is what Yeshua/Jesus meant when He said prior to His ascension to the right hand of Power:

All authority (or “power” KJV) has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. (Matthew 28: 18)

Notice that “all authority has been given” to Him “in heaven and on earth”? But “given” to Him by whom? God the Father, the Supreme King over all that He has created. Many ministers argue that Yeshua/Jesus was not given “a promotion in status,” since He was already God or “Lord.” However, those who argue this position are only looking at Yeshua/Jesus in His Divinity, not His humanity. As a human being, more specifically, as the Jewish Messiah, Yeshua/Jesus only had authority over those who resided in His own country, Israel. However, after His death, burial and resurrection, there is a change in His authority. Prior to His ascension, we learn He now has authority over all of God’s creation, both in heaven and on earth, and it is only after receiving this authority from God the Father that He now sends His disciples out to all nations.

Shi’mon Petros (Peter) likewise refers to God’s choice of setting Yeshua/Jesus in authority over all things in his sermon in Acts 2:36:

Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him [Yeshua/Jesus] both Lord and Christ [Messiah] – …

Notice, again, it was God who made Him “both Lord and Christ [or Messiah].” The term “Lord” was commonly used by Caesar since he had control over an entire empire, involving many different countries. It is also used of God, for God rules and reigns over all of His creation, including all the nations and peoples of the world. The word “Lord” means “Owner” or “Master,” and since God is the Creator, He likewise has the right of ownership and control over all that He has created. However, God has also given to us as individuals the right of free choice. We have the right to choose Him or to reject Him.

In addition, though, as the Supreme Ruler over His creation, God has the right to decide who will rule and reign over His kingdom, and He has already made that choice, the Messiah Yeshua/Jesus. Rav Sha’ul Paulus [Paul] communicated this same idea this way:

Therefore also God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus [Heb. Yeshua] every knee should bow, of those who are in heaven, and on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ [Heb. Yeshua HaMoshiakh] is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. (Philippians 2:9-11)

I used to think when I was growing up and I heard ministers say, “Won’t you make Jesus the Lord of your life?” that each time a person said, “Yes,” it was like each person was casting a vote for Him, and if we got enough votes, then Yeshua/Jesus would then be Lord. But then, in my late thirties it hit me as I read Acts 2:36 and Philippians 2:9-11 that God has already placed Yeshua/Jesus in the position of being Lord. There is no vote. The decision has already been made. He is Lord over all of humanity right now, whether a person happens to believe this or not. Our belief in (or denial of) His Lordship does not change His position as “Lord,” rather it determines our relationship to Him and to His Kingdom.

WHAT IS “SALVATION”?

Salvation entails more than simply having membership in the “right church or synagogue,” or regularly attending services or giving your tithes. It also entails more than carrying your Bible around or knowing facts from it that you use to quote at people. Instead, salvation involves an inner transformation that occurs when one willfully and heartfully gives their life completely over to the Lordship of Messiah (Christ). Rav Sha’ul Paulus [Paul] communicates this in Romans 10:

that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved; for with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.” For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek (non-Jew); for the same Lord is Lord of all, abounding in riches for all who call upon Him; for “Whosoever will call upon the name of the LORD will be saved.” (Romans 10:9-13)

In the Bible, God’s Kingdom Manual, the heart and the mouth are continually connected, for it is taught that “out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Luke 6:45; Matthew 6:34). As a result, we must not only “believe in our hearts,” but we must also “confess Him with our mouths.”

WHAT ABOUT THE TORAH?

Does belief in Messiah Yeshua/Jesus do away with or in any way annul God’s Torah, His commandments, judgments and decrees? Absolutely not! The Torah is God’s revelation of Himself and describes kingdom life and living. It is, in essence, the Constitution of God’s Kingdom. I’ve got friends who were not born in the United States and became citizens or who were students from other countries who came to the United States to study. Both of them have told me that even though they obey U.S. laws, it did not automatically make them U.S. citizens. Instead, the U.S. has a specific program that people have to go through to become U.S. citizens.

In like mannet, just because someone obeys God’s commandments, judgments, and decrees, it does not make him or her a citizen of God’s kingdom. God has a special program that people have to go through to become kingdom citizens: they must willingly and heartfully accept the gift of Messiah Yeshua’s/Jesus’ death on the cross for their sins and His resurrection, as well as His Lordship over their lives (see above under “What is ‘Salvation’?”). Consequently, there is no conflict between one’s faith in the Messiah Yeshua/Jesus and obedience to the Torah, God’s commandments, judgments, and decrees.

IT’S OUR DECISION

Consequently, then, in closing, it is our decision whether-or-not we are going to acknowledge and submit to whom God has placed as the authority over all of our lives or not. If we accept the gift of His death on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins, as well as declare our loyalty and allegiance to Him as “Lord” and to His Kingdom, then we are “saved” and become a part of His Kingdom. Believers in the first century understood the connection between making Yeshua/Jesus Lord and swearing their loyalty and allegiance to Him and to His Kingdom. However, that political aspect has been forgotten in today’s world. So once we are “born again” into His Kingdom, then we need to demonstrate and walk out His Lordship over our lives each day by submitting to God’s kingdom teachings and expectations – found from Genesis 1 to the end of Revelation – and to the leading of His Spirit.

But as long as we continue to reject His offer of salvation, then we are outside of God’s Kingdom, since to reject Yeshua/Jesus is to reject whom God has placed as Lord over us, and this is, in fact, then, to reject God Himself. For example, Yeshua/Jesus said to the masses:

He who believes in Me does not believe in Me, but in Him who sent Me….And if anyone hears My sayings, and does not keep them, I do not judge him; for I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. He who rejects Me, and does not receive My sayings, has one who judges him; the word I spoke is what will judge him at the last day. For I did not speak on My own initiative, but the Father Himself who sent Me has given Me commandment, what to say, and what to speak. (John 12:44, 47-49)

We cannot reject Yeshua/Jesus and then expect to be accepted by God in His Kingdom. We must accept Yeshua/Jesus as Lord to be accepted by God into His Kingdom. In addition, note, it is what God the Father told Yeshua/Jesus to say that’s recorded in Scripture and that will be used to judge each individual on the day of judgment – not which church, synagogue, or denomination they happen to belonged to. God will want to know if we lined up to His teachings or didn’t we? And these teachings not only include what is in the New Testament (Heb. B’rit Chadasha) but also what is in the Tanakh (or “Old Testament”).

Again, we are the ones who must choose whether we will accept or reject His Lordship over our lives. This is why Yeshua/Jesus told Nicodemus,

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world should be saved through Him. He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name (or person) of the only begotten Son of God. (John 3:16-18)

God gave us the gift of His Son. We choose what to do with that gift. In fact, the word translated “believes” doesn’t just mean “to mentally acknowledge,” but it entails us “trusting,” “being reliant upon” and “submitting and obeying” Him. In other words, it’s not enough just to submit to Him “mentally,” but we must completely, totally, and willingly bend our knees and submit to Him each day from our hearts. Merely going through the motions will not do it. Also, this is not just a one-time decision, but it is a decision we must make each and every day.

Also, note that “he who does not believe has been judged already.” Why? “Because he has not believed in the name [or person] of the only begotten Son of God.” But for those who do believe, John writes,

But as many as received Him [Yeshua/Jesus], to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12-13)

WHAT IS YOUR DECISION?

So what is your decision? Will you accept His sacrificial gift and His offer of the Kingdom, or will you reject it? The choice is yours to make. The choice is not what religion is right or wrong, or what denomination to belong to, or even what title to call oneself, but on whether you will accept God’s conditions on what it takes to enter into His Kingdom. God tells each of us, as He told the children of Israel at Mount Siani:

I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants. (Deuteronomy 30:19)

There’s an error being taught in many churches, which is that the Tanakh (or “Old Testament”) teaches “works righteousness;” whereas, the New Testament (Heb. B’rit Chadasha) teaches “salvation through grace through faith.” The fact is, that “grace through faith” is God’s modus operandi and is seen throughout both the Old and New Testament, not just the New Testament alone. And this truth is clearly seen when one examines and studies the life of Abraham.

GOD CALLS ABRAM

First of all, God’s relationship with Israel did not begin at Mt. Siani, but with Abram. God speaks to Abram (later called Abraham), after his father death in Haran (Genesis 11:31-32):

Now the LORD said to Abram, “Go forth from your country, and from your relatives, and from your father’s house, to the land which I will show you; and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great; and so you shall be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless you; and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed. (Genesis 12:1-3)

Notice here that God does not use the term “covenant,” but He promises Him these things. As a result of these promises, Abram then leaves Haran to go to the land which the LORD promised him. This is where God begins the process of building his relationship with those who would constitute the people of Israel.

GOD REAFFIRMS HIS PROMISE WITH ABRAM

It is not until three chapters later that God enters into covenant with Abram. The chapter begins,

After these things the word of the LORD came to Abram in a vision, saying, “Do not fear, Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great.” (Genesis 15:1)

Abram responds to the word of the LORD by questioning the LORD. Apparently, sufficient time has passed to where Abram is questioning whether the LORD’s promise of children is actually going to happen.

And Abram said, “O Lord GOD, what will You give me, since I am childless, and the heir of my house is Eliezer of Damascus [Abram’s servant]?” And Abram said, “Since You have given no offspring to me, one born in my house [his servant] is my heir.” (Genesis 15:2-3)

Abram here is telling the LORD, since you haven’t kept Your promise to give me offspring, then the only one who is going to end up inheriting from me is Eliezer, my servant. I am sure waiting all this time has been frustrating for Abram, but notice that the LORD does not get on Abram’s case for his statement here. Instead, He reaffirms His promise and then takes Abram outside for a visual to assist His faith.

Then behold the word of the LORD came to him, saying, “This man will not be your heir; but one who shall come forth from your own body, he shall be your heir.” And He took him outside and said, “Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them.” And He said to him, “So shall your descendants be.” (Genesis 15:4-5)

It is immediately after these two verses, when we find the statement,

Then he believed in the LORD; and He reckoned it to him for righteousness. (Genesis 15:6)

This same verse is quoted by Rav Sha’ul Paulus [Paul] three times in the New Testament (Heb. B’rit Chadasha), Romans 4:3, 22, and Galatians 3:6, and once by the brother of Yeshua/ Jesus, James (Heb. Ya’acov), James 2:23. Why do both Rav Sha’ul Paulus (Paul) and Ya’acov (James) quote this reference in Genesis? Because it is the first time that the root form of the word “faith” appears in Scripture; therefore, this first occurrence establishes its basic, fundamental meaning.

GOD ENTERS INTO COVENANT WITH ABRAM

Immediately after making this great faith statement of the Scriptures, God promises Abram that He would also give him the land (Genesis 15:7). What has intrigued me about Abram is that he can believe God for a son (an heir), but when God promises him the land, he wants some assurances:

And he said, “O Lord GOD, how may I know that I shall possess it?” (Genesis 15:7)

This question prompts God entering into covenant with Abram.

So He said to him, “Bring Me a three year old heifer, and a three year old female goat, and a three year old ram, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon.” Then he brought all these to Him and cut them in two, and laid each half opposite the other; but he did not cut the birds.” (Genesis 15:9-10)

Now when it came time for Abram to enter into this covenant process with God, notice what it says in verse 12:

Now when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram;… (Genesis 15:12).

Abram did not participate in the covenant ritual at all. The Scriptures are clear, “a deep sleep fell upon Abram.” Instead, five verses later, we read,

And it came about when the sun was set, that it was very dark, and behold, there appeared a smoking oven and a flaming torch which passed between these pieces. ON THAT DAY the LORD made a covenant with Abram, saying, “To your descendants I have given this land. From the river of Egypt as far as the great river, the river Euphrates:….” (Genesis 15:17-18; emphasis mine)

There’s a lot more to this covenant than meets the eye, but what I want to focus on in this article is that both Jewish and Christian theologians agree that the “smoking oven and flaming torch” represent God, who passed through the pieces alone. Abram did not participate as I said. God did it for him. Isn’t this a picture of God’s grace? The fact is, if Abram had participated in the covenant, then when Abram died, the covenant would have become null and void. However, by God performing this covenant by Himself, the covenant remains eternal since God does not die, being an eternal Spirit. Therefore, the promise of the land to the descendants of Abram (Israel) is likewise eternal.

GOD REQUIRES OBEDIENCE

It is AFTER this covenant of grace found in Genesis 15 when God requires two things of Abram:

Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, “I am God Almighty [Heb. ‘El Shaddai]; Walk before Me, and be blameless.” (Genesis 17:1)

The first thing that God requires is that Abram live “blameless” before him. You see obedience is to be an outward expression of our relationship with God. Our obedience does not result in relationship, but our relationship with God should result in us obeying God. And it is our obedience to God that results in us being blessed by God.

LEGALISM VS. OBEDIENCE

There is another error that’s commonly taught, which is that the blessings of God come upon those who simply believe. This, however, is not seen or taught in Scripture. The blessings of God ALWAYS follows obedience. Now obedience does not mean just going through the rituals, but it means obeying God from our hearts. If our heart is not involved, then it is not true obedience. Consequently, you can have two people do the same exact thing, and for one person, it will be empty ritualism, and for the other person, it will be obedience. What distinguishes the two is the heart: Is the person motivated by their love of God? Therefore, from the outside, there’s no way to watch someone and know whether their behavior is legalism (or empty ritualism) or if it is obedience. Only God knows.

THE MOUNT SIANI CONNECTION

I personally believe that the covenant given at Mt. Siani is a further development and explanation of what God meant when He told Abram to walk “blameless” “before Me.” There isn’t any further explanation of what God meant by walking “blameless.” It is implies through the lack of discussion that Abram understood, at least to some extent, what this requirement entailed.

GRACE AND OBEDIENCE

In addition, it is important to note that this requirement to live blamelessly before God came AFTER the covenant of grace, seen in Genesis 15. Obedience did not come BEFORE Grace, but AFTER WARDS. FIRST GRACE, THEN OBEDIENCE. That is, and has always been, the biblical model.

THE COVENANT OF CIRCUMCISION

Although there is a lot more in this chapter I could touch up, what I want to focus on instead is that in addition to the requirement to walk blamelessly before Him, God also gives Abram the following requirement:

God said further to Abraham (his new name now), “Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be a sign of the covenant between Me and you. And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations,… (Genesis 17:9-12a)

Notice that circumcision is also required in addition to walking blameless before God. These two things are required of Abraham AFTER the grace covenant of Genesis 15. This issue of circumcision is an interesting one, but one which cannot be handled in just a few lines. So I will hold off for another time.

THE BIBLICAL PATTERN

Consequently, when we study the life of Abraham, we discover the development of an interesting pattern:

— God’s Call
— A time of development of one’s relationship with God
— God’s covenant of grace with them
— God’s requirement of obedience

Again note that the requirement of obedience FOLLOWS the covenant of grace; it does not precede it. This same pattern is seen repeatedly throughout the Scriptures. For example, it is seen in the life of Moses and the children of Israel, it is seen in the life of David, and it is even seen in the life of Yeshua/Jesus and His early disciples.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER

Consequently, then, although I have found the repetition of this pattern throughout the Scriptures, there are some things I have yet to figure out. For example,

At what point do we recognize God’s call on our life? When we first feel convicted and start thinking about God or is it when we go to the altar to give our lives to Him?

At what point do we enter into covenant with God? What is that moment in the life of the believer?

What is “getting saved”? Is it responding to God’s call or is it entering into covenant with God? Or is entering into covenant with God something that occurs after “we get saved” in our walk with God? If so, what is that? and when does it happen?

As you can see, these questions can provoke a lot of discussion. But even though I am still struggling with these questions in my own mind, I do know that obedience comes as a result of my relationship to God; it does not bring about that relationship. Therefore, the doctrine that the Tanakh (or Old Testament) teaches “works righteousness” definitely cannot be seen or proven in the life of Abraham.

“Because the LORD has been a witness between you and the wife of your youth, against whom you have dealt treacherously, though she is your companion and your wife by covenant” (Malachi 2:14).

COVENANT – A COMMON MISPERCEPTION

In the last article, I introduced the idea that our relationship with God is rooted and founded on covenant, and even though this is seen throughout the Tanakh (“Old Testament”) and the B’rit Chadasha (“New Testament”), the focus of the covenant is not really understood by many people. Many articles have been written looking at the process of covenant, and all of the various steps that were involved in the making of covenant. As a result, many people view covenant as a “legalistic process” that detracts one from one having a relationship with God. But in looking at covenant in this way, they’ve miss the point. Just as a marriage ceremony may be quite elaborate and detailed, the focus of the ceremony is not about all of the elaborate details, but about the movement of a couple’s relationship to something much more deeper and intimate, and the same is true of covenant.

AN UNFORGETTABLE MOMENT

As the quote from Malachi above points out, marriage is a type or picture of covenant. It’s a life-changing moment in the lives of people, and this was true for me as well. I’ll never forget the moment. Karen and I were making minimum wage jobs at the time, and we could not afford an elaborate wedding. In fact, it took both of us contributing several payments to afford our wedding bands. To be able to make our wedding more affordable, we decided to get married in my apartment, which I had rented just shortly before. It gave us a chance to fix it up, even though neither one of us spent the night there until our wedding night.

The day of our wedding was Friday, December 12, 1981, at 11:00. We were married in front of our sliding glass doors, which had those long white, free-swinging, vertical Venetian blinds. In the middle of it, we had placed two artificial blue bells with white ribbons for decoration. Our apartment was very small, so we only had room for the immediate family, and we had rented a nearby VFW Hall for the reception. When the moment came for Karen to come out of our soon-to-be bedroom, she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. We had recorded my dad playing the Wedding March on his accordion, and as the tape played, it was still the best moment of my life.

Our marriage ceremony was rather simple in comparison to some I’ve attended, which were much more elaborate. But regardless of the simplicity or elaborateness of the wedding, the focus of the ceremony is on the couple and their relationship.

MARRIAGE – ROOTED IN THE CREATION OF ADAM

In order for us to understand the depth and context of marriage as God intended it, we must understand it within the context of the creation of Adam.

Thus God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness;…” (Genesis 1:26a).

First of all, the word translated as “man” in the Hebrew text is the word ‘Adam. ‘Adam was created in the “image” and “likeness” of God. It then goes on to say in verse 27,

And God created man (‘Adam) in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female created He them.

What is interesting about this verse is that it is written in poetic form, and you can even hear the poetic rhythm of the verse in English. If we break the poetic form down, we discover that the first two lines are repetitions of one another; it is just for the most part that the word order has been changed.

And God created man in his own image…in the image of God created He him…. (Genesis 1:27a)

Why say the same thing twice? I believe that as we learn later in Scripture, “by the mouth of two or three witnesses a thing is established.” This teaching began as a means of establishing truth in a murder trial (Numbers 35:30; Deuteronomy 17:6), but then, a couple of chapters later, it was applied as a principle for establishing something as truth for any type of crimes (Deuteronomy 19:15). But then, by the time period of the Second Temple period of the first century, C.E. (i.e., the time period of the “New Testament”), it was used as a general principle for establishing something as truth (Matthew 18:16; John 8:17; 2 Corinthians 13:1; and Hebrew 10:28). So by repeating it, God is establishing this truth as a reality, that “man (or Adam) is created in the image of God,” but also, repetition is used for the sake of emphasis as well. So God is not only establishing this truth, He is emphasizing it.

A BIT OF ANALYSIS

The following section gets a bit analytical, but the analysis, I believe, is important. By taking the time to analyze what I am reading, I have found important details and truths seen in the biblical text that most people just skim over. The ability to analyze various types of texts takes a lot of time and practice, so please do not get discouraged if you have not seen any of the following before. Be encouraged to know this type of analysis is possible, and it will deepen your knowledge of the Word as it has mine over the year.

I believe one of the things that should be taught within the church is analysis. Instead, though, we spend more of our time focusing on getting our quota of chapters read for the day or we hear people repeatedly say, “The Bible is so simple a child could understand it,” but this implies that there’s no depth to the Scriptures or that none of it is difficult to comprehend. However, anyone who has read the book of Leviticus, the visions of Ezekiel, or even the book of Revelation are well aware this is not true. So let’s begin this process of analysis by looking at the first two lines of Genesis 1:27,

…in the image of God He created him;male and female He created them. (Genesis 1:27b)

These two lines are the most poetical part of the verse, even in the English. The poetical structure that’s used here is known as Hebraic parallelism. This is where the one line develops or further defines a word or concept in the following line. Let’s look, for example, at Psalm 103:1,

Bless the LORD, O my soul;and all that is within me, bless His holy name.

Notice, for example, the phrase “Bless the LORD” in the first line is equated with “bless His holy name” in the second line. Both phrases begin with the word “bless,” but then, by writing this in parallel form, David here is equating the phrase “the LORD” with “His holy name.” I believe the equating of these two phrases could be used as a basis for an interesting discussion about how God and His name are one. For one thing, just as God is holy, so is His name, and, as a result, we are to treat it as such.

But also note that in the first line, the concept of “soul” is further defined in the second line as “all that is within me.” This could likewise raise an interesting discussion about how the Hebraic concept of “soul” in the Tanakh (“Old Testament”) = “all that is within me” – differs from the Greek concept of soul, which is “the immaterial part of us that lives forever.” So in examining this brief example, we can see that David makes use of this poetical structure to not only encourage us to “Bless the LORD” and “His holy name,” but to also define for us the Hebraic concept of the “soul.”

This same technique is being used here in lines 2-3 of Genesis 1:27,

…in the image of God created He him;male and female created He them.

In these two lines, we see repetitions used again. For example, “created” in the second line is equivalent to “created” in the third line, and “He” in the second line is equivalent to the “He” in the third line. That is pretty easy to see. However, where it gets really interesting, though, is in the next two pairs:

“in the image of God” = “male and female”
“him” = “them“

In these two subsequent pairings, we can see that the phrase “in the image of God” in the second line is made equivalent to the phrase “male and female” in the third line, and the word “him” [i.e., Adam] in the second line is made equivalent to the word “them” in the third line. Adam was created “in the image of God” which was comprised of both “male and female,” and the “him” was, in reality, a “them.” This may surprise many people to learn, but this idea is again reiterated and made more explicit in Genesis 5:2,

He created them male and female, and He blessed them and named them Man in the day that they were created.

Again, the word translated in English as “Man” is the Hebrew word ‘Adam. They, “male and female” was “created” by God and “blessed” by Him, and it was He who named them ‘Adam, or “Man.” So here, again, we can clearly see that the Scriptures are teaching us that in ‘Adam, there was “male and female”…”in the day that THEY were created” [emphasis mine]. This tells us that the woman was not an afterthought in the creation process, but she was right there in ‘Adam, just like the man.

A REMEZ – A HIDDEN ALLUSION

In the rules of interpretation that we see illustrated within the Scriptures, including the B’rit Chadasha (“New Testament”), there is an interpretative form that’s known as a remez, which means that a deeper reality or truth is in some way being hinted at, illustrated or in some way alluded to within the text. In this case, we can gain the remez understanding of the text by examining the following two statements:

Adam was created “male and female”

Adam was created “in the image of God”

Consequently, then, we can see that “the image of God” is seen in the composite unity of “male and female.” Adam was created to reflect the “image and likeness of God” in the earth, and that image and likeness was comprised of “male and female.”

DOES THIS MEAN THAT GOD IS BOTH A “HE” AND A “SHE”?

No, absolutely not! To possess gender (“He” or “She”), one must have a physical body, but “God is Spirit” (John 4:24). However, it does mean that the One God contains within Himself both masculine and feminine traits and qualities, and yet He is One Spirit. And it should be noted that in both the original Hebrew and Greek texts of Scriptures, God is consistently referred to by the pronoun “He.”

However, what is interesting to me is that the Hebrew word for “Spirit” is in the feminine form, and if we look at many of the characteristics or traits of the Ruach Hakodesh (“Holy Spirit”), they are characteristically “feminine”: He guides us, teaches us, comforts us, encourages us, etc., but as I previously stated, this does not mean that God is “feminine,” and should be called “She,” but it does indicate, as I said, that God does possess what we would traditionally characterize as “feminine qualities.”

But at the same time, He also possesses what we would traditionally characterize as “masculine” qualities and traits. For example, He’s our “Heavenly Father,” who loves and cares for us, but He is also assertive, aggressive, He makes war (see Exodus 15), He conquers, etc. Also, another picture of God’s “masculine” traits and qualities can be see in the B’rit Chadasha (“New Testament”), where God’s Spirit is pictured as “seed”:

No one who is born of God practices sin, because His seed abides in Him; and He cannot sin, because He is born of God. (I John 3:9).

The Greek word that’s used here for “seed” is the word sperma; it is from this Greek word that we derive the English word “sperm.” Please do not take this reference to “sperm” or “seed” literal to mean something physical; remember, God is Spirit, not physical, so this illusion must likewise be seen spiritually. But notice the interesting parallel, we are “born of God” when God’s “seed” (His Spirit) enters into us, and physical human life is produced when the male “seed” (or sperm) enters into the woman.

Consequently, we can clearly see, then, what God is in Spirit – One being consisting of both masculine and feminine traits and qualities – He created Adam in flesh.

THE FORMATION OF THE WOMAN

Before we get into what all this means, let’s look at the next important step in God laying the foundation for marriage, the formation of woman. In Genesis 2:18, we read,

Then the LORD God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for him?”

While we were dating and even engaged, my wife would write this verse on the back of the envelopes of the letters she wrote me. I think she was hinting. But there’s been a lot of discussion about the meaning of the Hebrew word k’negdo (translated as “suitable”). It comes from the root word nagad, which means “in front of,” “in sight of,” or “opposite to.” Through the use of this word here in verse 18, it implies a coming change to this single entity called “Adam” so that a part of him will now be “in front of” of him or “in sight of” him or “opposite to” him, in contrast to being an intricate part of him.

RIB OR SIDE?

Then in verse 21-22, we read,

So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man (Heb. Adam), and he slept; then he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh at that place. And the LORD God fashioned into a woman the rib which He had taken from the man (Adam), and brought her to the man (Adam). (Genesis 2:21-22)

The Hebrew word translated as “rib” is the Hebrew word tsela, a feminine form of the noun, and it can be translated as either “rib” or “side.” Obviously, there’s a big difference between just removing a “rib” as opposed to removing an entire “side” from Adam.

I remember seeing this same discussion many years ago in the movie Yentl (1983). After her father’s death, Yentl (played by Barbra Streisand), an Ashkenazi Jewish girl in early 20th century Poland, masquerades as a man, so that she could go to the Yeshiva to study Talmud and other rabbinical writings and studies, and when asked for her name, she chooses for her “male role” her late bother’s name, Anshel. Once she arrives at the Yeshiva, “Anshel” becomes friends with one of the other rabbinical students by the name of Avigdor (played by Mandy Patinkin). It is during one of their daily walks and arguments with one another that “Anshel” enters into an argument about how this word tsela should be translated and the importance of that meaning for relationships between men and women. “Anshel” attempts to argue the position that it should be translated as “side,” indicating the equality of the two genders; whereas, Avigdor maintains the traditional translation of “rib.” But the fact is, as this scene illustrates, the Hebrew word tsela can be translated either way.

In this particular case, I believe the evidence supports the idea of “side,” rather than “rib.” Since Adam was made “male and female,” and “a part of Adam” was to stand “in front of” him, “in sight of” him, or “opposite to” him, I strongly favor the word “side” over the traditional translation of “rib.”

THE MAN’S RESPONSE

Additional evidence for this position can be seen in examining the man’s (Adam’s) response when God brings him the newly formed woman. It is in scene where this same deeper truth is again alluded to within the text:

And the man said, “This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of man.” (Genesis 2:23)

Notice the man (Adam) did not just say, “This is now bone of my bones,” which is what you would expect if all that God removed was “a rib,” but instead, he says, “This is now bone of my bones, AND flesh of my flesh” [emphasis mine]. This indicates the removal of more than just a “rib” bone.

It is also after this statement that we see in the Hebrew a word change for the man. Biblically, whenever someone’s name or word used to refer to them is altered or changed, it indicates some important change has occurred within the individual; for example, we see this in such name changes as ‘Avram (“Abram”) to ‘Avraham (“Abraham”), Hoshea (or Oshea) to Y’hoshua (“Joshua”), Shi’mon (“Simon”) to Petros (“Peter”), etc.

She shall be called Woman (Heb. ‘ishah), because she was taken out of man (Heb. ‘ish). Therefore, a man (‘ish) shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife (‘ishah), and they shall become one flesh. (Genesis 2:23-24)

What is interesting about the term “Adam” in the Hebrew is that it is a plural noun, which further indicates Adam being a single entity comprised of a plurality, which the Bible describes as being “male and female.” However, the terms ‘ish (“man”) and ‘ishah (“woman”) are both singular nouns. Adam, originally consisting of a plurality, has now become two separate single entities, or what we now know today as “a man” and “a woman.”

It is after this separation of the original Adam into two entities, the man and the woman, that we read the traditional line that’s recited in most weddings:

Therefore, the man shall leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. (Genesis 2:24)

In other words, as a result of this separation occurring, the man (Heb. ‘ish; “the masculine aspect or side of Adam”) is to “cleave” to his wife (Heb. ‘ishah; “the feminine aspect or side of Adam”), and the two together are to “become one flesh.” It does not say that they are to remain as two separate entities under one roof, but out of their desire, passion, and love for one another, they are to “cleave” to one another, and through this process of “cleaving,” they are to “become one flesh,” or to put it another way, they are to reconstruct the original Adam, who was made “in the image and likeness of God.”

I know this is deep, but this is an important truth that we need to understand if we want to understand the biblical view of marriage and the truths taught in the rest of Scripture. One rabbinical teaching that reflects this same idea is the statement, “A man cannot be a man without a wife.” Now in English, this statement is often misunderstood as being “chauvinistic;” however, in Hebrew it makes complete sense: “A man (‘ish) cannot be a man (Adam) without a wife (‘ishah). In other words, ‘ish + ‘ishah = Adam.

In other words, each man and woman are not the full image of God, but half of His image, and in the marriage relationship, these two parts of His image are being joined together to formulate the full image. This process of “joining together” the two halves of His image is a process that occurs throughout the marriage relationship, it does not just instantaneously “happen” because the man and the woman says, “I do.” Although the relationship of the couple began to evolve when they were dating, it is after the wedding ceremony when this process really becomes deeper and more intensified.

THE PRIMARY PURPOSE OF MARRIAGE

The primary purpose of marriage, then, is not the propagation of the human race, as I’ve heard often argued, although it is one of the purposes. Rather in and through the marriage bond, a man and a woman are to come together in “oneness” (Heb. ‘echad) in every area of their lives (physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually, financially, and socially). Why? So they reconstruct the original Adam who was made “in the image and likeness of God.” So that through their unity, the “image of God” may be seen in the earth through their relationship, their passion, their desire, and their love for one another. However, in many marriages, the “image of God” is not being seen. Why? Because the more that a man and a woman seeks to be their own individual beings, the more they oppose God’s desire that they become “one flesh” and, therefore, reflect “His image and likeness.”

Another reason for this is because it teaches us that the “image of God” is seen when we come together as a “corporate unity.” For example, in Psalm 133, it teaches us that –

Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious [anointing] oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard, coming down upon the edge of his robes. It is like the dew of Hermon, coming down upon the mountains of Zion; For there the LORD commanded the blessing – life forever.

Notice, that unity is “good” and “pleasant,” and that it is compared to the anointing and the blessing of God. We also see this emphasis on unity (or oneness) in John 17, when Yeshua/Jesus prays,

I do not ask in behalf of these alone, but for those also who [continue to] believe in Me through their word; that they may all be one; even as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that they also may be in Us; that the world may believe that Thou didst send Me. (John 17:20)

Notice that the prayer of Yeshua/Jesus is that we, as His followers, may be one with God and with one another, even as He and the Father are One. And it would be through our oneness with God and one another that the world would finally believe that God was the One who sent Yeshua/Jesus the Messiah. Consequently, all the divisions and schisms in the church work in opposition to the desire and prayer of Yeshua/Jesus. And where do we begin to learn about the importance of corporate unity? The marriage relationship.

DOES THIS MEAN THAT THE WOMAN SHOULD DO WHATEVER THE MAN SAYS?

To bring about this oneness, does this mean that the woman should “submit” and just do whatever her husband tells her? No, this is a common misinterpretation and misapplication of certain teachings of the Bible regarding the marriage relationship. God does not indicate in His Word that He expects the woman to become a “door mat” and simply lie down and let the man walk all over her, nor does this mean that she should lose her own identity, while he maintains his. Instead, this process of “joining together” the two halves of God’s image into One equally involves the effort of both the man and the woman. Both of them together need to work on “melting together” their identities, their desires, their needs, their wants, their goals, etc., to formulate this new single creation. Both the man and the woman may lose certain aspects of themselves within this process, but they also both gain something through this process: the knowledge, gifts, talents, and strengths of the other. If this is done God’s way, rather than our own way, it is a “win-win” situation for both the man and the woman.

Rav Sha’ul Paulus (Paul) explains this process by using the word “subject.”

and be subject to one another in the love of Christ [Messiah]. (Ephesians 5:21)

It is after this verse that he goes into more depth as to what constitutes this process of “subjecting” ourselves one to another. However, it should be said that some have abused the Scriptures by emphasizing Ephesians 5:22, “Wives, be subject to your own husbands, as to the Lord,” while ignoring verse 21 above, as well as what is taught in verses 25 and 28-29:

Husbands, love your wife, just as Christ [Messiah] also loved the church [His Bride] and gave Himself up for her;…So husbands ought also to love their own wives as their own bodies. He who [continues to] loves his own wife loves himself; for no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ [Messiah] also does the church, because we are members of His body.

If we look at the Scriptures as a single whole revelation, rather than just the parts that we tend to like, than we see that this process of subjection is to one another as we subject ourselves to God and His Word is venue by which God will bring about the oneness He desires in our lives and in our marriage relationship.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

Why is it so important that married couples should seek oneness, rather than separation. I believe it’s for several different reasons, but the most important three is

Through our oneness with one another, we will fulfill God’s desire for marriage – that our marriages become a physical picture or representation of Him within the earth;

Through our oneness with one another that we will present within and through the depth, passion, and love expressed for one another in our marriage unions, a picture of the type of relationship that God desires with us. Throughout the Scriptures, God refers to Himself as our “Husband” and His people as “His Bride.” I want to examine this idea further in the next article because by looking at our relationship with God within the context of marriage, we gain a better perspective and understanding of what type of depth of relationship that He desires from us; and

Through our oneness with one another, we will experience a depth of self-fulfillment and satisfaction that we would not have initially believed possible.

IS MY MARRIAGE PERFECT?

In examining these goals and what I have described as God’s desire for marriage, some may wonder if my wife and I have attained this ideal of marriage. No, but it has gotten a whole lot better, particularly over the last few years. There are many times when we get angry, frustrated, and say or do something we shouldn’t, or even try to exert our own will in the situation, rather than seek the oneness that God desires. However, I will tell you, my marriage continues to improve with each passing day. Indeed, I would describe it as “a fine bottle of wine that has finally fermented and has reached that age where it is enjoyable to the taste.” But even though there are areas in our marriage that we are still working on (e.g., selfishness, pride, stubbornness), we know the goal that God has presented within His Word, and we continually seek to move towards it each and every day.

GOD CARES ABOUT YOUR MARRIAGE

Just as God cares about my marriage with Karen, He also cares about yours. Perhaps, your marriage is closer to that of a “war zone,” as opposed to a loving, passionate union of two people seeking to “become one.” We can relate. There were many years where “a war zone” would have been a perfect picture of our relationship with one another, but once we actually allowed God to come into it, He began working with each of us individually and then with us together, and we now have a marriage we wouldn’t trade for anything in the world. In regard to our marriage, God spoke to us prophetically through His Spirit, and this what He said,

Yes, you have been very unstable minded, but that was due to you and your wife being unstable with one another, says God. I could not do what I have needed to do with your lives a mess, says God Almighty. I cannot and could not be a Holy God living inside a temple that was living in such disharmony and confusion as the two of you were. Things were not good, but your minds and hearts yearned to do what was right in My eyes, but you two were like fighting bears and lions, trying to tear each other apart from the very core of your being. You could not see Me through all of your discord and disharmony, says God, and you were so unhealthy while trying to serve Me. (“God’s Calling of My Husband and I into Ministry”)

Disharmony, division, on-going fighting and hostility in a marriage will not only make your lives miserable, but it keeps you from seeing God and from Him using you and your spouse. Consequently, we need to strive for Oneness with one another. As a result, we know from experience that if you invite God into your marriage and into each of your lives, read and study His Word, and submit yourself to the leading of His Spirit, He will transform your “war-torn home” into a loving environment that you and your spouse will continually crave and desire, and that He can bless and use.

Therefore, all marriages are important to God because He designed them to be so much more than what most of us live and experience in our day-to-day lives. But I want to invite you to take the first step to bring a change to that, invite the LORD into your lives and home. Say this prayer with me (or something similar): Is this prayer some “magic formula” that will suddenly make things better? No, but it is the first step. Remember, learning to do things God’s way is a process, but it is a process that always begins with repentance and submitting ourselves to God and His Word.

PRAYER

Lord, my marriage and life is a shambles. We are continually fighting and tearing one another apart. I have tried to bring peace to it, but it hasn’t worked. Lord, I want the kind of marriage that’s taught here in your Word and that Chris has described. Lord, I know that You are not a respecter of persons, and that if you can change Chris and Karen’s marriage, I believe You can change mine.

Lord, I invite you now to come into my life and into my marriage. I open every door of my life to You. Forgive me of my sins. Lord, I embrace your gift of salvation that Yeshua/Jesus provided for me by dying on the cross. Lord, I ask You to please change whatever needs to be changed; remove whatever needs to be removed, and please add whatever needs to be added to my life and my marriage. I submit myself entirely to You, Your Word, and the leading of Your Spirit.

Thank You, Lord, for what You are about to do. In Yeshua’s/Jesus’ name, Amen.

If you have prayed this prayer, I would like to hear from you. Please email our ministry at followingmessiah@gmail.com, so that we can pray with you again and begin you on your journey to a new life and marriage.

“But He [Yeshua/Jesus] said to them, ‘I must preach the Kingdom of God to the other cities also, for I was sent for this purpose” – Luke 4:43.

THE KINGDOM OF GOD

The kingdom of God/Heaven was the central theme of everything that Yeshua/Jesus did and taught, but not only that, but according to Him in Luke 4:43, it was the purpose for which He was sent. But what is “the kingdom of God/Heaven”? If we look through the Bible, we will not find it defined anywhere in the text. However, throughout the Scriptures, God is referred to as King. For example,

Heed the sound of my cry for help, my King and my God, for to Thee do I pray. (Psalm 5:2)

The LORD is King forever and ever; nations have perished from His land. (Psalm 10:6)

In Hebrew, the word for “King” is melekh, and what a King does is He malaks (rules or reigns), and His malak is His malkhuth (or Kingdom). In other words, in English, the word “kingdom” is a noun (it’s a place), but in Hebrew, it is much more dynamic; it is an active verb (an action).

THE CLOSEST EQUIVALENT

The closest equivalent to the phrase “the kingdom of God” is found in I Chronicles 29:23:

And of all my sons (for the LORD has given me many sons), He has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel. [emphasis mine]

The phrase “the kingdom of the LORD” is the English translation of the Hebrew malkhutYHWH. The four letters, YHWH, denote God’s covenantal name, and by the time of the Second Temple period of the first century, C.E., the name YHWH was only used by the High Priest in the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur (“the Day of Atonement”). Consequently, to make reference to God, other terms – referred to as “evasive synonyms” – were used in place of His name, for example, “heaven,” “God,” or “Power.” Therefore, the phrase “the kingdom of YHWH” in I Chronicles should be seen as equivalent to the terms “kingdom of God” and “kingdom of heaven.”

LAW OF FIRST MENTION

One of the rules that is used when interpreting Scripture is known as “The Law of First Mention.” This means that if we want to understand the basic, primary meaning of any term, we must examine it the first time we find it used in Scripture, and then from that point forward, see how the idea is developed and built upon; however, later developments of the idea may never violate or contradict its original base meaning.

THE FIRST MENTION OF THE KINGDOM

The first reference to God’s Kingdom is found at the end of “The Song of Moshe (Moses)”:

And the LORD shall reign forever and ever. (Exodus 15:18)

The phrase “shall reign” in English seems to denote a future time period; however, the phrase in Hebrew is much more dynamic and active: YHWH yimlokh l’olam v’ed (“YHWH reigns forever and ever”). It is not that YHWH (“the LORD”) shall reign, but that He has reigned, He is reigning, and He shall ever reign forever and ever.

What is interesting about the context of this first reference is that it occurs in a song sung by Moshe (Moses) to God glorifying Him over the victory that He had just demonstrated by His defeat of the kingdom and military of Egypt. In other words, the context is a political one, rather than a religious one. God’s Kingdom is political, it has a king, who rules and reigns over His dominions (all that He has created), and He rules and reigns over those within His kingdom through the use of His teachings, commands and laws found throughout the entire Bible (from Genesis 1:1 to the end of Revelation).

A COMMON MISUNDERSTANDING

A common misunderstanding that many people have is that if they can obey all of God’s laws, then those acts of obedience will result in them being citizens of God’s Kingdom. But this is not true on several levels.

First of all, God never intended anyone to obey every single command in Scripture. There are some commands for Kings, some for the High Priest, some for the priests, some for farmers, and some for men and some for women. Now, I am not a king, so I am not expected to obey those laws; I am also not the High Priest, the Priest, or a farmer, for example, so I am not expected to fulfill those laws. And since I am a man, I am not expected to fulfill those laws that are intended for women. I am only expected by God to fulfill those laws that specifically deal with me.

Secondly, we can obey every single command that does apply, and God is still not obligated to make you a citizen of His Kingdom. Even in the United States, if an immigrant comes to the U.S. and obeys every single law, his obedience to those laws will not make him a U.S. citizen. Instead, the U.S. has its own process by which immigrants can become legal U.S. citizens, and the same goes with God’s Kingdom. Obeying God’s commands will not make you one of His citizens, He has a special process in place by which each individual can become a legal citizen of His Kingdom.

PROBLEMS, PROBLEMS!

The first problem we face in reconnecting with God and His Kingdom is to realize that human beings are born outside of God’s Kingdom. Adam and Eve (Heb. Chavah) were placed in the Garden of Eden, which is a picture of God’s Kingdom. However, when they sinned against God’s rule and reign over their lives, they were sent out from the Garden, which then becomes a picture of them being cast out of God’s Kingdom. They had rejected His rulership and, therefore, since God is a God of love, He honored their desire for self rule. Love does not impose its self on others, and if people choose separation from God, He will honor that desire.

Secondly,we cannot earn our way back into the Kingdom. There isn’t anything that we can do, on our own power and abilities, to work our way back in. Why? Very simply, because we are dead. Dead people cannot do anything; they’re dead. And spiritually, we are dead. When Adam and Chavah (Eve) sinned (broke God’s laws), they lost their intimacy with God; in fact, the Bible says when God asked Adam where he was, Adam answered,

I heard the sound of Thee in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself. (Genesis 3:10)

Adam and Eve (Chavah) were now afraid. There was no fear in them before they broke His commands, but now that they had, something inside of them had changed. They were now afraid of God, they hid from His Presence, and they felt guilt and shame. The Presence of God that once indwelt them was now gone, and they were no longer connected to the source of life, so they died spiritually. As a result, they were cast our of the Garden (Genesis 3:23) since God cannot dwell with anything sinful or unholy. Being cast out of the Garden then was a picture of being cast out of God’s Kingdom.

Thirdly, God created us “in His image and likeness” (Genesis 1:26), and when man sinned, that image was distorted, twisted, and corrupted. Consequently, we no longer reflect God’s “image and likeness” accurately, nor do we have the power to do so because we are spiritually dead.

COVENANT – GOD’S RESPONSE

God’s responds to man’s need is through the use of His covenant. Unfortunately, many in Christianity only see the covenant in terms of being a “legal process,” rather than understanding that covenant is all about relationships. Biblically, covenants were made (1) to deepen or intensify an already existing relationship; (2) to resolve relational differences or conflict; and (3) to restore a broken relationship.

Yeshua/Jesus is that covenant. He came proclaiming the good news of God’s Kingdom, which is that the doorway to intimacy with God and being restored to God’s Kingdom was now open and available through the person of Yeshua/Jesus Himself, and that doorway would be opened for all who would come in faith believing, Jew and non-Jew alike.

Unfortunately, there are many people – Jew and non-Jew – who do not understand the relationship between the covenants that God established in the Tanakh (or “Old Testament”) and the death, burial, and resurrection of Yeshua/Jesus (That’s a discussion for another article). Most Christians mistakenly view His death as “setting aside,” “doing away” or “putting to death” the previous covenants; however, this is not the case. He did not set any of them aside, He did not do away with them, nor did He annul any of them, but He filled up (and continues to fill up) their meaning, He re-established them on a historic event (His life, death, burial, and resurrection), and He becomes the new point of entry into these covenants.

By accepting the gift of Yeshua’s/Jesus’ death on the cross for our sins, and His resurrection for our newness of life, we enter into covenant with God: We enter into intimacy with God, We experience His indwelling Presence, forgiveness, and liberation from the power and control of sin that was over our lives, and we enter into greater intimacy, love, forgiveness, mercy, and grace from a loving, Heavenly Father that’s more than any of us could ever possibly imagine, but we also enter into the privilege and responsibilities of one who is in covenant with God, meaning, i.e., that we now become active members of His Kingdom.

THE KING HAS STANDARDS

The Messiah Yeshua/Jesus, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, has laid down in the Gospels His standards for those who will make up His Kingdom. For example, He teaches us in Luke 14, the following standards:

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 5:3)

To be “poor in spirit” means to be someone who acknowledges your need of Him in your life, that you are incomplete without Him. Proud, arrogant people who will not come to Him, who will not acknowledge their need for Him, and who will believe that they can live their lives without Him and/or that they are better off without Him will not be those who will make up His kingdom. Another example of a standard is the following:

If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. (Luke 14:26)

Yeshua/Jesus here is using a hyperbole to make the point that He needs to be first place in our lives, and our love for Him should exceed that of our love for our parents, wife, children, siblings, and even our own lives. “Hate” does not mean have bad feelings towards them, but if a choice has to be made, you would choose Yeshua/Jesus rather than any of your family or even your own needs and desires. He then reiterates this idea of dying to our own needs and wants with the following:

Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. (Luke 14:27)

There is a definite cost to being Yeshua’s/Jesus’ disciple. He illustrates this by saying:

For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid the foundation, and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, “This man began to build and was not able to finish.” Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and take counsel whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Or else while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks terms of peace. (Luke 14:28-32)

There is a cost to following Yeshua/Jesus and being His disciple. This was true of the first century, and it is true today. He then reiterates the point:

So therefore, no one of you can be My disciple who does not give up all of his own possessions. (Luke 14:33)

All that we possess, even our very life, we must be willing to hand over to Him for Him to use in accordance to His discretion, for His glory and honor. However, these (and other) standards are often not taught in many churches because they believe that one can accept Yeshua/Jesus as their Savior without making Him Lord. “Making Him Lord” is a higher level of commitment to Messiah, they say. However, this clearly violates Scripture. Rav Sha’ul Paulus (Paul) writes to the congregation at Rome:

If you confess with your mouth Jesus [Heb. Yeshua] as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved. For with the heart man believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. (Romans 10:9)

As we can see, our salvation is dependent on us accepting Yeshua/Jesus as Lord. It is not another step, it is THE STEP. But the word “accepting” doesn’t mean “to mentally accept something to be true,” as we would use the word today, but it means that the reality of that statement must permeate every aspect of our being, so much so that it flows out of our mouths, “for out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34).

BELIEF IS NOT ENOUGH

You see, belief is not enough. In English, the word “believe” usually denotes “mental agreement,” and although “mental agreement” might be a beginning step, it is not what the Bible means by “believe.” Biblically, the word “believe” denotes our continuing active trust in and reliance upon God, and there’s a big difference between “mentally agreeing to something said about someone” and “trusting” and “relying upon” that individual.

For example, I can ask you, “Do you believe I would ever hurt you?” and there are many people who know me and would say that they “believed” that, but if I asked them if they would loan me their credit cards, not too many (very few, in fact) would loan them to me. Why? Because it doesn’t cost anything to mentally accept something to be true, but trust always costs.

Consequently, it is not enough to mentally accept the possibility that there is a God or to even say we believe in what the Bible says, or even just to say the words “Jesus is Lord,” but that reality must be true in every area of our lives. If Yeshua/Jesus is truly living in us as Lord, then His image and likeness should flow out of us in every aspect of our lives. But again, Yeshua/Jesus is a gentleman; He will not invade or take any part of you by force, but you must willingly hand each and every part of your life over to Him to use for His glory and honor in whatever way He sees fit.

“I AM NOT IN CHARGE”

By bending our knee to the Lordship of Messiah and making Him the ruler and king of our lives, we are acknowledging before God and ourselves that we are not in charge of our lives. He is. This is what it means to give our lives to Messiah. Our lives now belong to Him for His use, His glory, and His honor. This life, this body, and its needs no longer belong to me; they now belong to Yeshua/Jesus. I am now a steward of them, but I no longer own them.

KINGDOM PEOPLE – OUR CALLING

We have been called to be “a kingdom of priests and a holy nation” to God (Exodus 19:6; I Peter 2:5, 9). This is not a calling just upon the Jewish people, but upon all people, languages, tongues, and ethnic groups that God brings into His kingdom in and through the Messiah Yeshua/Jesus, the Son of man:

I kept looking in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven One like the Son of Man was coming,and He came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before Him, and to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, that all the peoples, nations, and men of every language might serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion which will not pass away; and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed. (Daniel 7:13-14)

Some skeptics or doubters might argue that it is only my opinion that the “Son of Man” spoken about here is Yeshua/Jesus. But they would be wrong. Yeshua/Jesus proclaimed it of Himself at His trial in response to the High Priest, who adjured Him “by the name of the living God, that You tell us [the Sanhedrin] whether You are the Christ [Messiah], the Son of God.” And this was His reply:

You have said it yourself; nevertheless, I tell you, hereafter you shall see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven. (Matthew 26:64)

Yeshua/Jesus is the Son of Man, and His return is very soon, and we must prepare for His coming and the establishment of His Kingdom here on earth. It will be a time unparalleled in human history. And as His people, we are to represent Him and His Kingdom, and live out the teachings, laws, commands, values, and beliefs that He has handed down to us throughout all of His Word, from Genesis 1:1 to the end of Revelation. For the Scriptures teach us,

For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome (or grievous). (I John 5:3)

“Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men” — Yeshua/Jesus (Matthew 4:19)

IMAGINE –

Imagine being on the boat with Simon and his brother Andrew, working the nets with their father, and then here comes the Rabboni (“Lord” or “Master”; see Mark 10:51; John 20:16) Yeshua/Jesus walking down the beach, and He watches you out there for a few moments, and then He calls out, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men” (Matthew 4:19). What do you do? Do you drop everything to follow Him or do you keep on working? According to the Scriptures, Simon and Andrew “immediately left the nets, and followed Him.” But what if, instead of Simon and Andrew, that was you in the boat or me? What would you or I do? Would you leave your job to follow Him, or would you give Him reasons why you couldn’t leave your job right now?

MY CALLING

I was the first one to be approached with God’s calling. I was uploading material onto a website that sought to rip apart an argument that I had found on another website. After completing it, I was quite content and happy with what I had done, and so I went to bed. As I laid there gloating in my accomplishment, I heard Yeshua/Jesus audibly speak to me:

You know I didn’t call you to do that. I’ve given you revelations about the Kingdom, and it’s time now to share them. (November 14, 2014)

He then gave me three titles of books He wants me to write regarding the kingdom. I laid there in awe that I had audibly heard His voice. It had a very nice, gentle, and loving tone, and after hearing it, I could easily see why He was a regular reader in the synagogue in Nazareth, where He grew up (Luke 4:16). However, although the Lord had audibly spoken to me, my wife was anything but thrilled about the idea.

MY WIFE’S HEALING

Throughout my wife’s life and almost all of our married life together, my wife has suffered from a learning disability. The problem was that she knew in her mind what she wanted to say, but she couldn’t seem to get it out or it came out all wrong from what she was thinking. It was like there was some sort of disconnect or “bad wiring” in her brain. We would get into fights frequently, because whenever I asked her to explain her views or something she read, she couldn’t do it, and then she’d get angry at me and accuse me of trying to make her look dumb or stupid. It was a horrible cycle that was repeated over and over again.

However, in February 2015, we were preparing to go to a writing conference down in Texas. My wife had been struggling with severe depression and anxiety, and she felt lower than she had ever felt in her life. She laid there on the bed, and then broke down and cried out to God. It was then that she said she felt this hot burning sensation in her forehead. She cried as it continued. I stood there, not really sure what to do, so I asked, “Can I get you some aspirin?” She told me it didn’t really hurt, that God was healing her.

I didn’t understand the extent of the healing until we arrived at the Conference. In the afternoon break, we went off to grab something to eat, and I was telling her about a short story I had been working on. She asked me to read it to her. She didn’t usually do that, but I went ahead and read it to her. What happened next when I finished reading the story to her just blew my mind. For the first time ever, my wife retold to me the story point-by-point in detail. I just sat there with my mouth hanging open. I could not believe what I was hearing. After that, there was no doubt in my mind that God had truly healed my wife and had done a marvelous work in her life.

MY WIFE’S CALLING

My wife, Karen, received her own personal calling from the Lord while she was at a women’s conference for the Assemblies of God church here in the state of Oklahoma. While she was sitting there listening to the speaker, God spoke to her and told her that He wanted her to go forward for prayer, but not for salvation but to receive the same calling of ministry that He had placed on my life. She told me that He was calling her to join me in partnership in ministry.

OUR CALLING AS A COUPLE

After my wife and I had received our own individual callings from the Lord into ministry, He then called us as a couple, to serve Him together. And in obedience to that calling, I have resigned from my full-time teaching position at Oklahoma City Community College, and we’ve made the decision to leave everything behind and to follow Him wherever He may lead us. I formally handed in my resignation letter on Monday, May 23, 2016, and began to announce our decision to go into full-time ministry. For the most part, we have been given support for our decision to begin this new journey; however, there have been a few who believe we’ve lost our minds. But this decision did not come about simply because we had a feeling this is what God wanted, nor was it a one-time calling, but on several occasions, Yeshua/Jesus has spoken to us and has told us that this was His plan for us. For example,

I love you so much, my children. I need you to choose Me rather than the world so that I can reach the ones who really need Me to help them. I want for them to know I’ve heard their cries and haven’t forgotten them. Time is close at hand, and they need to hear My word, My teachings. They need to know that I do love them and want for them to prosper and be in good health. There isn’t anything that is too hard for your God to handle. (September 29, 2015)

Go, and I will be with you, says God. But you say, “Go where?” I say, “Follow Me into all the world and make disciples of all nations, and I will make you fishers of men,” says God Almighty. Do not fear what others will say of you. They will call you all sorts of things. They will call you nothing that they hadn’t called Me first, so let this, My child, My son, comfort your very soul. Trust your wife; know that she hears from Me and hears My voice and teachings. I have chosen her to be your helper in just a time as this to go along with you and help to proclaim Me to the world, too. I love you and desire for the both of you to love Me and trust Me with your whole hearts, mind, and soul. I want for you to go and tell My story to the nations, telling them that I am real and that I’m coming back, and I have not deleted anything from My Torah, says the Lord God Almighty. (November 2, 2015)

There is no doubt in our minds that God has called us into full-time ministry. The Lord has made Himself clear that this is His desire for our lives. And even though we are sure of His calling, this is still very new to the both of us. Karen did spend two months on one of the small islands in the Bahamas (Cat Island) with her brother and his wife, who were missionaries out there at the time, but the only time I’ve been outside the United States was when we spent one night on the Canadian side of Sault Ste. Marie and once when we drove from Detroit, through Canada, to Niagara Falls, New York. Obviously, then, we are not but any imagination expert “world travelers,” but we are two people who dearly love the Lord and His Word.

Our Lord and Rabboni has called us to go into the nations and to represent Him and His Kingdom, and He has not only told us that He intended for us to be together, but that He has had this calling on our lives since early in our childhood:

Karen, You and Chris were meant to be from the beginning. I have been with you, and I have been loving you and taking care of you all of your lives. My Spirit is inside each of you to bring about healing and restoration of My people, says God Almighty. You have all that you need from Me, says God. Trust Me when I say, “Go and preach My words among the peoples and nations.” This is no small potatoes. This is the big stuff. You, Chris, have had My calling on you from an early age. I have been watching over you both because I knew that I could trust you to do what I need for you to do. (November 2, 2015)

This is truly humbling when the Lord gave us His personal invitation to follow Him, and that He told us that He’s been watching over us our entire lives to bring us to this moment because He knew He could trust us to follow through with what He needs for us to do. I have not always been obedient by no means, and I have gone through times of depression and doubt in the past as well, but over the past ten years or so, the Lord has been radically changing me, the way I think and look at life, but for my wife, as I’ve pointed out, it’s only been a little more than a year.

FROM THE VERGE OF DIVORCE

There were several moments in our past when my wife and I were on the verge of divorce. In fact, there were a couple of times when she had packed my bag, set it next to the door, and told me to leave. Fortunately, we worked things out moment by moment. Yes, there was a lot of yelling, screaming, and fighting. We were like two rams standing on the same path wanting our own way, but neither side willing to compromise or give in to the other. In fact, God Himself compared us to fighting lions and bears:

Choose today to seek Me and to trust Me. Yes, you have been very unstable minded, but that was due to you and your wife being unstable with one another, says God. I could not do what I have needed to do with your lives while it was a mess, says God Almighty. I cannot and could not be a Holy God living inside a temple that was living in such disharmony and confusion as the two of you were. Things were not good, but your minds and heart yearned to do what was right in My eyes, but you two were like fighting bears and lions, trying to tear each other apart from the very core of your being. You could not see Me through all of your discord and disharmony, says God, and you were so unhealthy while trying to serve Me. (November 7, 2015)

God couldn’t accomplish what He wanted to do in our lives because of the continued arguing and fighting. He had to fix us and our marriage before He could use us to do His will. But we want everyone to know that God can radically change a marriage by changing the people in that marriage. And we are witnesses to the miraculous transformation that God can accomplish within a marriage. For me personally, a lot of my problems boiled down to the fact that deep down, I did not believe that God really loved me. In fact, in my late twenties, I remember feeling so depressed, abandoned, and alone, I asked God to simply let me die. I was so unhappy with my own life, our marriage was falling apart, I had been fired from a couple of jobs, and even as a father, I felt worthless, so at that point, I felt death was preferable to any of this. However, I also believed that suicide was wrong, but for some reason I thought if God took my life, then that would be okay. However, He did not do that. He began ministering to me through His Word. It was not a quick process, but one that took several years.

MY REMINDER OF GOD’S LOVE

The clincher though for me came in July 2007. Karen and I had been walking around the track at the local YMCA, and I started having pain in my chest and arm, not severe pain, but just enough to know it was there. I also had to stop several times to catch my breath just to walk around the track even once. We decided to make an appointment to see my doctor. He asked a number of questions about the symptoms and about my family history. When I explained that every male on my dad’s side of the family as far as I knew, except my dad, had died of heart disease or a stroke, he sent me to a heart specialist. The heart specialist asked similar questions and then scheduled me to get an angiogram.

During the angiogram, while I was laying there on the table, not sure what it was that I was looking at on the monitor, I heard the heart specialist ask me,

Why are you alive? There’s no reason why you should be in the condition that you are. With the amount of blockage in your heart, you should either be dead or have had a severe, debilitating stroke. I just don’t understand why neither of those had not happened to you.

Definitely, not the news I was expecting to hear. I learned that the front artery of my heart was 100% clogged, and the two back ones were 90% clogged. They kept me in the hospital and rearranged the surgery schedule in to get me into surgery the very next day.

For the surgery, they were planning on doing a triple bypass; however, when they got in there, I learned that they found two more blockages, so I ended up receiving a five bypass at the age of 45. During the surgery, while my wife and family were in the waiting room, I learned that God showed up and my wife was slain in the Spirit. God ministered to her there in the waiting room. After some time, my wife opened her eyes, got up, turned to my mother and told her that God had told her that I was going to be all right. My mother responded, “I know. You were breathing for him.”

After surgery, the heart specialist came out to speak to my wife. My wife told me that when the doctor came out of surgery, he was shaking his head. She wondered what was wrong. He said,

I don’t understand it. With that much blockage in his arteries, his heart should have been damaged, but there was no damage whatsoever.

Although I have a scar down the middle of my chest from the operation, it is a daily reminder to me of God’s love and that He has a purpose for my life. If He didn’t love me or didn’t have a purpose for me being here, then He would have just let the blockage kill me as the heart specialist had expected. But I praise God every day for His mercy and grace. The “old me who doubted God’s love” died on the table that day. It was a new me who is absolutely convinced of His love for me and everyone else that got up off of that table.

So if you are in a bad marriage or you feel that no one cares about you or loves you, we want you to know, God loves you and in Him, there is hope. Yeshua/Jesus can change your marriage, the same as He did ours. He may begin with one of you, but then as you pursue Yeshua/Jesus with all of your heart, mind, and soul, He will change the other partner as well. I wish I could say that I was the one God started with, but that would be a lie. God began with my wife, and through her continued attempts, prayer, and study, God used her in the process of changing me. I cannot begin to tell you where we would be if she had not allowed the Lord to use her, but we would definitely not be where we are today. Let me assure you, Yeshua/ Jesus can radically change your marriage relationship and can bring love, peace, joy, and harmony, where there was nothing but anger, resentment, pain, and discord. We indeed serve a great and mighty God!

CALLED TO SERVE

So considering where the Lord has brought us, it means the world to us to receive His call to work for Him in the fields of this world. He has called us to follow Him into the nations, and that He will use us to bring others to Him. What a gift! And on top of everything else, He has shared with us that He now feels that we are at the point in our lives when He can trust us with this. This really humbled us, but we were particularly excited when He told us where He was first sending us:

For I have separated you and have called you out for such a time as this, says God. Be not afraid, humble yourselves unto Me, and I will make you fishers of men. Follow Me, says God, for I know you love Me and want to do what I have been speaking to you. I am not far from you, My child, for I want to do exceedingly great things through you and your husband. Trust Me, and know that I have called you out and have placed My blessings upon the both of you to go and tell My people Israel that I love them and need for them to love Me also, for such a time as this, says God Almighty. (November 5, 2015)

Again, we are very humbled by this call. I have had a strong love for the Jewish people and the Torah for at least 26 years now. I have attended several different synagogues and have had the privilege to present to churches teachings regarding several of the feasts, including Passover, Pentecost (Heb. Shavuot), Purim, Hanukkah, as well as teachings regarding the coming Millennial Temple. Some may be wondering if I am Jewish, but as far as I know, I am not. So to be called by God to first go to Israel is truly awesome! However, the Lord has also made it clear to us several times that this will not be an easy venture:

Remember, I’ve told you it will get hard, and you will need to trust Me, saith the Lord God Almighty. Don’t let fear and doubt overtake you, but keep strong in the words that I have spoken, and there is nothing by any means that can harm your dwelling place with Me. (November 2, 2015)

I know this won’t be easy, but what is easy, My child? Do understand that My time is short before I am returning, says God… (November 5, 2015)

Although we are leaving the country on August 1, 2016, and are planning on our ministry beginning in Israel, the Lord has also told us that we would be ministering to non-Jews as well. Whether we will be ministering to them in the land or outside the land, we don’t know yet. But whatever the case, He will be leading and guiding us all along the way. It is for this reason that we have entitled our ministry, Following Messiah. People need to know that the time of the Lord’s return is quickly arriving and the time is short, and God wants all of His people prepared, including His people Israel,

I love My people Israel with a love that only a Father can. They need Me so very much, and I long for them, My children. (November 5, 2015)

My heart cries out to My children, My people, says God. Yes, My people are Israel, and I have set them apart for such a time as this, says God Almighty. Go and proclaim Me to all the House of David and tell them to prepare their hearts and clean themselves before coming to worship Me, for I am a Holy God, and I am God Almighty, which is and always have been and always will be Holy, for I know nothing about being unholy because that is not even an option for Me. (November 7, 2015)

You have been chosen to be used for Me today for such a time as this, and I want to do a new thing in you so that My people Israel will become One with Me as I am with you. I love My people Israel, and I desire for all My people Israel to know and to love Me too. I have called you, My daughter of My Torah, to be set apart for My use to do this in such a time as this, so I say, Trust Me, Follow Me, and I will make you to arise and soar high amongst the eagles, says God Almighty. (November 11, 2015)

God loves His people Israel. They were the first people that He brought into His kingdom; who received His Torah, His commandments; who gave us the prophets, and most wonderful of all, they gave us Yeshua/Jesus. God has not replaced the Jewish people at all. He dearly loves them and yearns to be in an intimate relationship with them. But He also desires to be in an intimate relationship with all people – Jew and non-Jew alike – and for each of us to be a part of His kingdom. We should never doubt His love for each of us, or the fact that He yearns for us each and every day, His children, to be one with Him and to be one with one another.

We are One great big happy family enjoying the fruits of the true engraftation; we are all One tree, says God. I have no favorites. I love you children all the same with a love that’s greater than you all could ever imagine, says God Almighty. I love it when My people, My children, come to Me in worship and praise to lift up My holy name in honor of the One who has redeemed you and has set you on high to soar like the eagles. My Father and I have created everything for you, My children, to be able to see and to understand how great and mighty and awesome of a God we are…My heart cries for My people to see Me and My Father as one and the same. As I and My Father are One, so I yearn for My children to be One and the same with Us also. (November 5, 2015)

God has planned this moment, this journey, in our lives from before the beginning of time, and He has given us a simple message to share with others: He is real, He exists, and He loves them more than they can possibly imagine. He has also told us that we are to let people know that time is short and that He is coming very soon, so we as His people need to wake up and to prepare ourselves for His arrival, and finally, that He has not changed His mind about anything that He has spoken in the Bible, nor has He set aside, annulled, or eliminated any part of His Torah and His commandments.

HOW YOU CAN SUPPORT US

This is a whole new journey for us, so please pray for us. We are currently working on establishing our ministry as a non-profit, as well as getting ready to sell our home and some of our other possessions. Although we have moved several times in the U.S., we have never moved to a whole new country. So pray God’s blessings through this process, as well as His blessings, protection, and provision for us as we go to do His will for our lives. Thank you for your prayers and may you be prepared for the Lord’s soon return.